Kaus resurrects Saints

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- With the St. James down by 10 points with just over three minutes left in the game, the Saints knew that someone would have to pick the team up.

Tyler Kaus did just that.

The senior point guard, who was held to 10 points through three quarters, buried a game-tying trey as time ran out in regulation. Kaus then scored nine of the last 11 points in overtime as St. James edged Minnesota Valley Lutheran 69-66 Monday night.

Kaus led the Saints with a game-high 33 points and scored 23 of St. James last 26 points.

Scott Dorn added 15 for St. James, now 16-2.

Andrew Beilke paced the Chargers with 25 points, and Dustin Lange added 14 for MVL, now 16-5.

"I am just glad that I have number five on my team," said St. James coach Steve Walker. "We battled back from an 18-8 deficit in the first quarter and then we got down in the fourth quarter by 10 points and we battled back again. But Tyler made some incredibly big shots late in the game."

MVL would hold a 42-39 lead after three quarters and increased that lead to 52-41 on 3-pointers from Andy Beilke and Ben Ziesemer before Beilke canned a jumper for the 11 point lead with 4:24 left in the game.

But then Kaus, who had misfired on the first five of his 3-point shots, canned back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead to 53-50. His conventional three-point play later sliced the lead to 55-53 and his drive to the basket with 31 seconds left in the game saw the Saints down 56-55. Mark Thiesfeldt's basket with 10 seconds left in the game moved MVL into a 58-55 lead before Kaus canned a 22-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game.

Kaus' 3-pointer at the 1:25 mark of overtime gave St. James a 63-60 lead. It was a lead that they would not lose.

"I wanted the ball in my hands," Kaus said. "I want to have the pressure on me because I know I have confidence in myself to make big shots. I like those situations."

"He (Kaus) made a shot that was incredible," MVL coach Craig Morgan said. His team played without Nate Nass, who was sick. "We talked about contesting his shot -- we said to get a hand in his face. He stepped up and made a big play."

But for the first eight minutes of the game, it was the Chargers who were making the big plays thanks in large part to Beilke, who scored 10 of MVL's 18 first-quarter points.

"We took it right to them," Morgan said. "We were a bunch of little squirts against a big team. We made some plays. Andy played a great game for us."

St. James would cut into the MVL lead and eventually tie the game at 20-20 and then take a 22-20 lead on a Sam Birkholz rebound basket before Beilke turned the eighth Saint turnover into a 22-22 game at halftime.

It was a half that not only saw Beilke score 12 of the 22 points for MVL, but also shutdown Kaus with only three points -- all free throws.

"He did a great job on me," Kaus said. "He is a very good defender. He contested my shots and I could not get them to fall."

The Chargers broke that halftime tie by scoring the first nine points of the third quarter. The third of five treys from Beilke gave them a 31-22 lead.

MVL carried a 42-37 lead into the fourth quarter and took a 52-41 lead on Beilke's fifth 3-pointer before Kaus took over.

"Hats off to MVL," Walker said. "They played without Nass. This was a tough win for us -- we knew that it would be a tough game. MVL plays as hard as anyone."

"We can learn from this game," Morgan said. "We made some plays late in the game that were not very good, but this was a meaningless game for us. It gives a team bragging rights for three more weeks."

MVL won the "B" game 64-32. Jared Hoscheit scored 14 and Sam Siemers 13. Cody Anderson led St. James with nine points.

ST.JAMES 8 14 15 21 11 -- 69

MVL 18 4 20 16 8 -- 66

ST. JAMES (69) -- Kaus 33, Dorn 15, Walker 9, Zimmerman 6, Wojtalewicz 3, Birkholz 3.

MVL (66) -- Beilke 25, Lange 14, Ziesemer 8, Lendt 6, Morgan 5, Thiesfeldt 4, Holzhueter 2, D. Nass 2.